Mixing Tyres: Front and Rear (new/worn, same tyre)

[SimmAus]

Hi All
Recently in a position where I need to replace 1 front tyre.
1 option was to replace both fronts with New tyres. D697s, which are also on rear.
So fronts New (with 10mm tread) and rears worn (5mm tread).
LR manual states "ideally replace all 4"
D697s out of stock at the moment.

What are the thoughts on the New / partially worn scenario?

Cheers

[mr_squiggle]

Not going to matter if the tyres are of similar width & profile.

[bee utey]

The rotating diameter of a tyre is mainly due to the invariant length of the steel belts just above the tread. Tread depth has little effect on the rolling diameter with a normally inflated tyre so can be safely ignored from the point of view of driveline wear. I suspect the real reason that even wear is recommended is that the handling of tyres changes with wear so an even mix is desirable in poor traction conditions.